Connor would have thought that he had had enough excitement in his life but a few months later inactivity began to worry at him again. Visiting the dock he boarded the ship a questioned Faulkner to any pirate activity or attacks in the area. Faulkner shook his head almost regrettably. "I understand lad. She's too fine a ship not to be out doing what she does best." He eyed Connor. "And I think you're too young man to give up doing what you do best. The Patriots have been asking about you, Connor. They still need good fighters and good captains."
Connor scanned the ship, her sides gleaming, the cannons polished. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to take her up for quick run to Boston."
He had not been down to the basement in over 3 months but a few days after his trip to the dock a new portrait hung on the wall and his weapons gleamed newly sharpened. The next day he stood in the den with Faulkner going over maps of his newly acquired target, a sense of purpose filling him once more. He pointed to the shipping line the target usually sailed. "We must leave quickly. If we sail tomorrow we can be sure to catch him in between ports." Faulkner pulled out another nautical map and checked the currents. "Have you told Carolyn yet?" Connor shook his head and put down the map. "She will not like it." Faulkner looked up at him. "We sail tomorrow. You have to tell her sooner or later." Connor sighed. "I know. I'll tell her tonight. In the meantime I think we're ready and I could use some time outside in the open before being on the ship for a while." He walked Faulkner to the door and locked it behind them. As Faulkner walked off towards the dock Connor turned to the woods. If it had been colder out he might have hunted larger game but it would not last in this weather. Instead he returned with a plump rabbit early enough in the afternoon that Carolyn was still out.
He started a small campfire behind the house and dressed the rabbit, spitting it on stick and setting it to roast by the fire. It was just finishing when Carolyn came into view around the corner of the house drawn by the smell of the smoke. Her worried frown split into a grin when she saw Connor kneeling by the fire. "I didn't think I was running that late! You know there's a kitchen about 10 feet that way." she nodded to the house. He picked up the rabbit and blew on it. "This is how I cook. Have a seat. I thought this would be a nice change. " She tucked her feet up underneath her skirt and sat in the grass. He sat down next to her and cut off a hunk of leg and handed it to her. "It's very nice." She bit into the rabbit, juices running down her arm. "Not what I'm used to, but very nice." Connor licked the juices from his fingers and threw the bones into the dying fire when he finished. She tossed her bones in beside them and scooted closer to him, shaking the juice from her hand. He grabbed her wrist and brought her hand to his mouth, his mouth closing on her fingers to suck the remaining juices as she flushed hotly.
He stood, drawing her to her feet. To her surprise he took the time to fully put out the fire, pushing a pile of dirt over the smoldering remains before drawing her into the house where made love to her with a ferocity she did not expect. He collapsed beside her with a sigh of relief but she propped herself up on one arm and considered him. "Either you need to cook more often or something's going on. Which is it?" He sighed and turned towards her, running a hand down her side to her hip and pulled her towards him. "Something's come up. I sail in the morning and I may be gone for a while." Hey eyes widened slightly in surprise. "In the morning? Conner, when were you going to tell me?" He laughed and traced his hand over her fingers. "Well I meant to tell you at dinner but you distracted me." She settled back against him and wrapped an arm around his waist. "More ruins?" He froze beneath her. "Not exactly. Business." She sat up with a start. "What kind of business?" He averted his eyes from hers. "Nothing dangerous. I'm running an errand for the Sons of Liberty." Her eyes flashed. "What kind of errand? No." she shook her head and moved to the edge of the bed. "I don't want to know." Her voice was small and quiet. "Connor, you promised." She took a deep breath and reached for the robe she kept hanging nearby. "I'm going to go downstairs and have a cup of tea." He started to sit up but she shook her head. "I need a moment. Please."
Connor was half asleep when she returned and slipped back into bed next to him silently. She turned her back to him and pulled the blanket up over her shoulders and fell asleep almost instantly. In the morning when he woke she seemed to have decided to take a different tactic. She pressed herself against him and kissed him firmly. "Surely you needn't sail today. It could wait a day or two?" She ran her hand down his chest he caught her wrist before it could go any lower. "No it can't. You will not change my mind on this. I'm sailing. How is this different than the ruins?" She did not try to hide the anger in her voice. "That was about knowledge. About creation. Can you say that this is not destruction?" She sighed and wrapped her arms around his chest instead hugging him tightly, her face buried against his side but he could feel her face flushed against his skin. "Please don't. I thought we were happy. I don't want you to go." He stroked her hair. "We are. But this isn't about us. This is about who I am. I cannot change that." She sighed into his skin. "I suppose not." Sitting up she considered him sadly. "Do you want me to see you off at the dock?" He shook his head. "No. We will sail after classes have started. I would not have the children walk all the way in only to be sent home again." He sat up and moved to get dressed "Come on. I'll walk with you to school."
Several times along the path she began to take a deep breath but whatever she meant to say kept dying on her lips. He walked her to the door of the building and she dropped her bag at the main desk while he studied the mural. "You have not made any changes recently." She shook her head. "I thought I might leave things as they were for a bit." She turned to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Goodbye, Connor." He bent to kiss her. "Do you have so little doubt in my abilities? I'll be back soon." She nodded. "I know. And we will talk." The door behind them opened and the first of the children started to arrive. In an instant she had smoothed her worried expression away and she greeted them with a smile but her eyes will still dark and full of words unspoken when she looked at him. He kissed the top of her head and headed for the door.
The trip which should have taken a week or two at most ended up taking over three as his quarry fled before the ship to a fort. Connor got his target but it ended up being more personal than he expected and he was bruised and scraped by the time he leapt from the wall to the water below where the Aquila waited. It was Sunday midmorning when they made the dock and the bell was wrung to announce their return. He picked up his gear and headed wearily up the hill to the house.
He opened the door and dropped his gear in the hall, surprised to see Carolyn waiting for him quietly in the living room, her hands folded in her lap, still for once. She startled at his arrival and he watched as she walked to him slowly, her eyes far away, her expression unreadable. Raising her arms she reached for him, pulling his head down so she could kiss him gently. He wrapped his arms around her waist and tried to pull her close and deepen the kiss but her hands on his shoulder pushed him away. She pulled back and met his eyes "I'm sorry. I had to at least one more time." She sighed and stepped back. "Connor, we have to talk. I wish we didn't but we do." She took his hand and led him away from the door towards the kitchen. "I need you to listen to me. When I'm done you can kill me if you like but I need to say something." He startled, grabbing her hand and turning her around in the doorway to the kitchen. "Kill you? What are you talking about? How can you think that?" She sighed and placed her hand on the candle sconce, turning it to open the door to the stairs. She did not meet his eyes but her voice strained with emotion. "Because you're an Assassin, Connor. That's what you do."
She pulled her hand loose from his and headed down the stairs. She paused briefly at the table by the wall where a lone portrait now hung. She ran her fingers lightly over Haytham's dagger before pulling her own silver knife from her belt and placing it beside it on the table. By the time Connor reached the bottom of the steps she had moved away from the table and surveyed the rest of the room. He followed her into the room and turned her to face him gripping her shoulders. "I can explain. I knew you might find the room". She shook her head and studied the floor. "I did not find the room, Connor. I always knew about it." His hands froze on her shoulders, "I don't understand." She leaned in against him, "I know you don't. I wish I didn't have to do this. You left me little choice." She drew back and met his eyes, sadly. "I was in this room before we ever met in the tavern." His hands tightened on her shoulders. "But how?" She glanced at the table. "You're father told me... before he asked me to come here."
"What do you mean my father asked you?" His eyes darkened and his fingers bit into her skin. "Your father was my guardian. He saved my life, Connor, as surely as you ever did. He raised me, he educated me. He gave me that silver dagger for my 12th birthday still wet with General Pensham's blood." She looked up at him. "If you want to kill a Templar you need not sail to the Keys. You didn't even have to leave the house." Rage flared in his eyes and he grabbed her by the neck, pinning her to the wall. "This whole time you came to spy on me? It was all a lie?!" He leaned in, their faces inches apart. "Answer me!" Her eyes were frantic and she clawed at his wrist. He looked down to see her feet scrabbling at the wall, his hand on her throat pinning her with her feet inches above the floor. He dropped her suddenly and she fell to the ground coughing.
"So he saved you from the brothels to whore for him. They sent you to seduce me. What did the others think of your sacrifice?" She flinched. "Funny I remember it the other way around. Nobody else knew. He was worried about you but didn't mean for me to seduce you. He wouldn't have. I was just supposed to try to teach you patience and reason. The rest I did on my own. He always said I needed to learn to keep my emotions from interfering with my reason. I knew this was a bad idea. That's why I tried to leave." She watched him defiantly. "You chased me down though and brought me back." He gestured to the table. "If you had told me the truth I wouldn't have." She met his gaze angrily. "If you had kept your promise we wouldn't be here. You said you were done. I would never have married you otherwise. I had not had contact with the Templars since the Sovereignty sank until you took another target." His eyes flashed. "You warned him. He was ready! You could have gotten me killed." Her shoulders trembled. "I know. Do you think I didn't know? But you're alive. And John isn't. I knew him Connor. I knew his wife and their 3 children. These are my people you're killing, Connor. Why did you take the job? We didn't need money. We were fine." He shook his head and paced beside her. "My work for the patriots does not change who I am. Nor who you are. You knew before I sailed. Why did you not say something then if you cared so much? Why did you wait?"
She bent her head and answered quietly. "I thought about it but I couldn't. I just couldn't. I had to be sure." "Sure of what? You doubted I would do it or you had to wait for orders?" She swallowed. "I had to be sure I wasn't with child." He took a sharp breath. "I would not face you like this if I were carrying your child. And you would not stay until I was certain. You would only have waited a week but you were impatient. I would not have anything clouding your judgment on this." He eyes narrowed. "And now what?" She folded her hands in her lap and studied them, her breathing slow but deep. "I can only see two outcomes to this. I can't stay here if you mean to go back to killing us out of hand. I can't go back, they would just use what I know against you." She hesitated. "And I took an oath. Yours was made in ignorance but mine was not. I mean to keep it. So the first option is for us to try to move on. For you to stop working for them. For me to have no more contact with the Templars. I'm not asking you not to kill, Connor. It is your nature. But surely there are better targets. Pirates or smugglers or something. " He snorted. "Not likely." She took a deep breath and continued. "Or we can play to our natures. You can kill me." He looked at her sharply. "This is not a game!" She shook her head. "I know that. But you are an Assassin and I am a Templar. That seems to be reason enough for you." She drew her shoulders in and clutched at her skirt. "I would not fight back if you agree to be quick. Surely I deserve that much. I've done my best to do right by you. But the choice must be yours." She could feel his eyes on her and tried not to jump as he reached her in 2 fast strides. He buried his hands in her hair and pulled her head back and drawing her up on her knees. He placed his blade at her throat, his fingers prints still visible and starting to bruise. "You've lied to me, spied on me and betrayed me to my enemies. Give me one good reason I shouldn't cut your throat right here." She laughed bitterly, her breath coming quickly. "Because you would have to clean it up. Surely they're a less messy ways to be rid of me. The state of this room always did drive me to distraction." He glanced down at the floor noticing for the first time that it had been swept and polished to the standards of the rest of the house. She trembled in his grip, her heart pounding like the rabbits he caught in his snares.
He shook his head and released her leaving her to sway on her knees. "You stay here." She fell back on her heels and clutched at her skirt and nodding. She did not turn as he climbed the stairs but she could hear him grab his gear and slam the door angrily as left the house. Carolyn was used to kneeling. Sometimes for minor infractions Haytham would make her kneel for extended periods but eventually the pain of holding still set in and her legs went from numb to pins and needles. She moved to sit on the bottom of the stairs. At some point in the night exhaustion overcame caution and she climbed up to the main floor. The house was dark and quiet and she fell into the bed in the living room and slept. The next morning she woke groggily but there was still no sign of him. She hurried to school, not meeting the smiling eyes of the people she passed on the street. When she got back to the house she searched frantically and found that he had come while she was out, a few items of clothing and a handful of weapons missing from down stairs. Unsure of what else to do she prepared dinner as usual, sitting out two places. When it became clear he was not returning she ate alone and retired upstairs. Even after a month of his absence the bed still smelled faintly of him but was empty and the room cold. The shifting of the house kept her on edge as she strained her hearing for sounds downstairs. She finally gave up and moved to the bed down stairs, building the fire up and watching the back door from where she lay.